


We've got you

by S_Horne



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Bucky Barnes Is a Good Bro, Bucky is a good uncle, But not explicit, Domestic Fluff, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Kid Fic, M/M, Past Child Abuse, Superfamily
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-02
Updated: 2018-06-02
Packaged: 2019-05-17 07:40:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,428
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14828192
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/S_Horne/pseuds/S_Horne
Summary: “Can you wake up, Uncle Buck? I need you.”That woke him up. Bucky opened his eyes and blinked blearily, squinting through the darkness to see what had interrupted his sleep.“Please, Uncle Buck! I need your help.”It was Peter. Bucky was instantly wide awake and he pushed himself upright as he held his hands out for the upset child. “Hey, kiddo,” he soothed, pulling Peter up onto his bed and flicking on the bedside light. “What’s happened? What’s – oh.” Bucky cut himself off as he rubbed his hands down Peter’s back and reached his bottom. His soaking wet bottom./Peter wets the bed and goes running to his uncle. Cue tears, giggles and family bonding.





	We've got you

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks again to [olympvs](https://archiveofourown.org/users/olympvs/pseuds/olympvs) for wonderful beta-ing
> 
> There are hints that Peter was abused before he came to live with Steve and Tony. These are there for the story; though they aren't explicit you should be prepared. Peter is very much loved and safe with his new family now though.
> 
> This is a little out of character and can be read as an alternate universe, but I wanted to write fluffy and happy Uncle Bucky loving little Peter so sue me.

“Buck? Uncle Buck, are you ‘wake?”

Bucky groaned as he felt something poke him in his side and heard a soft voice calling his name, but his eyes remained firmly shut.

“Can you wake up, Uncle Buck? I need you.”

That woke him up. Bucky opened his eyes and blinked blearily, squinting through the darkness to see what had interrupted his sleep.

“Please, Uncle Buck! I need your help.”

It was Peter. Bucky was instantly wide awake and he pushed himself upright as he held his hands out for the upset child. “Hey, kiddo,” he soothed, pulling Peter up onto his bed and flicking on the bedside light. “What’s happened? What’s – oh.” Bucky cut himself off as he rubbed his hands down Peter’s back and reached his bottom. His soaking wet bottom. “It’s okay,” Bucky promised, thoughts racing a mile a minute as he tried to think of how to fix this, “It happens, Pete. Don’t get upset, you silly billy; you’re okay.”

Peter buried his head into Bucky’s neck as his shoulders began to shake lightly. “Pete, come on, kid,” Bucky murmured, pressing a kiss to the little boy’s head. He slid his hands down to cup behind Peter’s thighs, pulling him close to his body. He didn’t mind the wetness; he could change his clothes and right now, his favourite little dude needed a hug. “It’s not the end of the world.”

Peter shook his head and wrapped his arms more securely around Bucky’s shoulders, grappling at his sleep shirt as his tears began to flow a little quicker. “It’s not, Peter, I promise. Why are you so upset?”

“‘M too old to wet the bed,” came the muffled reply and Bucky sighed, lifting a hand to soothe over Peter’s back.

“No, you’re not, kid. It’s normal – you’re only 6.”

“‘N three-quarters.”

Bucky huffed out a weak laugh and nodded into the boy’s hair. “I can’t forget those three-quarters, can I? But don’t worry, Pete; no one’s gonna be mad at you. I promise.”

“Buck got wet,” Peter mumbled into Bucky’s throat, and the man bit back another smile. Of course Peter was worried about his teddy bear. The bear was a beautiful stuffed toy that Bucky had bought for Peter the first time they had met each other, two years ago now, and had earned its name from Peter’s favourite Uncle. It was Peter’s most treasured thing in the entire world and he rarely went a day without having it clasped in his arms - even on the days when he proclaimed himself too old for cuddles from his parents, a cuddle from a bear was apparently very different.

“Oh dear,” Bucky murmured in sympathy, “but we can wash him, squirt. It’s okay. Come on.” Bucky swung his legs off the edge of the bed and shifted Peter onto his hip as he stood up. “Let’s go, kiddo. Back to bed.”

Bucky navigated the dark hallway perfectly and arrived at Peter’s room quickly. “Alright, here we go.” Bucky bent down to put Peter on the floor and squatted down next to him, lifting his hand to swipe away his tears. “You grab Bucky Bear and get out of your wet pjs in the bathroom. I’ll come in and get you in the bath in a minute, okay?”

Peter nodded glumly and gave a weak smile when Bucky reached out and squeezed his sides lightly. “What about the bed?” Peter whispered with a nod over his shoulder, his eyes downcast and bottom lip caught between his teeth. “I dint mean to, Buck, I swear I din–”

“I’ll change the bed,” Bucky promised, brushing over Peter’s other comments with a wave of his hand and a soft kiss to the boy’s forehead. “Do you want trains or Iron–”

“Iron Man,” Peter answered immediately and Bucky rolled his eyes on a soft laugh.

“Of course you want Iron Man. Okay kid, bear and bath. Go.”

 

/

 

“Turn it off.”

Steve smiled at the groan from the other side of the bed and reached out to switch off the alarm on the bedside table before rolling over and throwing his arms around the lump under the comforter.

“You know, the alarm means that you have to wake up,” Steve whispered, laughing when he got another groan in response. “Come on sweetheart; you’ve got a meeting at nine. Up and at ‘em, gorgeous.”

“Ugh,” Tony grumbled as he poked his head out from under the comforter,  scrunching his nose up adorably at the crisp morning air. “I’d forgotten what the alarm sounds like,” he muttered, and leaned up to receive the kiss that Steve bent to offer him. “I’m so used to being jumped on or having a bear shoved up my nostrils. It was almost a relief to hear that racket.”

“Huh,” Steve said thoughtfully, and pulled back as Tony  went to give him another kiss. “You’re right.” He twisted and shot a look over to the slightly-open door before he turned back to Tony and gave his husband a weird look. “Peter’s normally in by now.”

“Yeah, where is the squirt? Want me to go wake him up?”

“Absolutely not,” Steve replied and pinched Tony in the sides to watch him squirm underneath him in mock outrage. “If you go to get him, you’ll crawl straight into bed with him and I’ll never get either of you up.”

Tony opened his mouth to argue when a yawn flew out without his permission and he nodded in agreement. “Yeah, that’s fair. You get him and I’ll just,” he broke off for another yawn and leant back onto his pillow as his eyes slipped closed once more, “I’ll just take another quick nap.”

 

/

 

“Peter?” Steve’s voice was soft as he pushed open the door to his son’s room, “Peter-pan, it’s time to wake up.” Steve walked into Peter’s room softly and approached his bed, freezing when he saw that his son’s bed was unmade and that he was nowhere to be seen. Steve turned around and ran out of the room, only stopping in the bathroom and the living room before bursting back into his and Tony’s bedroom.

“Steve?” Tony shot up in bed as the door flew open so hard that it hit back into the wall. “What the–”

“Peter’s gone.”

Tony’s mouth dropped open and he all but leapt out of bed, legs tangling in the comforter that he fought desperately to free himself from. “What do you mean gone?” he asked as he finally got himself free and onto the carpet.

“He’s not in his room,” Steve explained, running his hands through his hair and nervously chewing on his lip. “I checked the bathroom and the living room, but he’s not there either.”

“Well, he can’t have gotten far and no one would have gotten in; the alarm would have gone off. And you’d have woken up at the first hint of danger, anyway.” Tony hopped around on one leg as he wriggled into a pair of discarded boxers before he practically shoved Steve out of the door and chased him down the hallway. “Are you sure he’s not–” Tony darted into Peter’s room and stopped short in the doorway when his husband’s words were proven true. He turned to Steve with wide eyes and an expletive on his lips. “Those aren’t his sheets.”

“What?”

“His sheets,” Tony repeated, throwing his arm out to gesture to Peter’s bed, “those weren’t what I tucked him into last night.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes!” Tony cried, “I put him in the Hulk sheets – I distinctly remember being freaked out by the giant face staring up at me.”

“Well, who would have changed his bed?” Steve asked and Tony turned to look at him.

“Bucky,” they realised in unison.

 

/

 

Steve had barely finished his knock before he was pushing open Bucky’s door. Bucky had been expecting it and barely flinched at the sight of his six-foot something and insanely muscled best friend suddenly appearing in his doorway at six am, looking as though he had been dragged backwards through a hedge after a night out on the town.

Bucky lifted a finger to his lips with the hand that wasn’t smoothing large circles over Peter’s back and smiled softly at Steve, watching as the other man sagged in relief and turned to look over his shoulder. Barely ten seconds later Tony was in the doorway too, crowding behind Steve as he desperately tried to catch a glimpse of his son, safe and unharmed.

Bucky beckoned them in and did his best to shield Peter as the mattress dipped with the added weight of two fully grown men.

“What happened?” Tony asked on a whisper.

“He wet the bed,” Bucky replied just as quietly, nodding sadly when Tony cursed and turned away. “He came running in around 2, 3 maybe? I got him cleaned up and changed his sheets, but he couldn’t settle so I brought him back in here.”

“Thanks, Buck.”

“You don’t have to thank me,” Bucky said immediately, a small hint of offence slipping into his tone even as he brushed away his friend’s comment.

“Still, I’m gonna.” Bucky rolled his eyes at the cheeky grin on Steve’s face and looked back to the boy sleeping soundly on his chest, his nose crinkling ever so slightly whenever Bucky moved too much as he spoke.

“He’s okay,” Bucky said, his words soft but holding a promise all the same, reassuring the boy’s parents whose eyes had been locked on the child since they entered the room. “It was just the bed; he’s okay, I swear.”

“Why didn’t he come to us?” Tony asked quietly, his eyes fixed on Peter’s angelic face.

The room was silent for a long moment before Bucky sighed deeply. “I think he had a nightmare,” he confessed in a low voice. He held up a hand when Tony gasped and Steve reached out for his son. “Hey, stop, he’s fine now. He didn’t talk about it so I don’t know what it was about, and he seemed fine once I’d gotten him in the bath and into some clean clothes, but the kid was exhausted. That’s why he’s not up yet – I don’t want to wake him.”

“I thought that he had stopped that when they got him out of–”

“Yeah,” Tony cut in swiftly, tensing at Steve’s words, “apparently not.”

Steve wrapped his arms around his husband and this time Bucky didn’t try to stop Tony from reaching out a hand to bush Peter’s hair away from his face. “He hasn’t had one in weeks, certainly not bad enough to cause him to… Was he really scared?”

“No,” Bucky was quick to reassure, and he tore his eyes from Peter to look over to Tony seriously. “I swear he wasn’t. He was upset, but he wasn’t  _ scared.  _ Not of us. I just think he needed to remember he wasn’t…  _ there _ , you know? That’s why he came to me. Who’s further from those people than the crazy uncle that has never once disciplined him? In fact, I was more likely to give him candy for breaking the rules than to hit– well.” He cut himself off and swallowed harshly before pasting a smile onto his face and losing the bite in his tone. “We all know I’m not the best at punishment, anyway.”

Tony let out a surprised huff of laughter at that and some of the tension finally left Steve’s body. 

“He knows though, doesn’t he?” Steve asked, and his hand replaced Bucky’s to soothe the gentle strokes over the boy’s back, eyes soft though a little pained as they remained locked onto his son. “He knows we’d never do that to him.”

“Of course he does,” Bucky promised when it became clear that Tony wasn’t going to answer that. “Steve, come on. He just came to me because I was here - I’m the novelty he doesn’t get all the time. Of course he knows you’d never do  _ that _ .”

“How do you know though?” Steve asked, and just as Bucky opened his mouth to answer, Peter stirred. He fidgeted a little as he fought to hold onto the last bits of sleep, snuffling a little before his fingers uncurled from Bucky’s shirt and his eyes blinked open slowly.

“Daddy!” he cried out excitedly as soon as he could see who was touching him, “and Papa!” 

“That’s how I know,” Bucky replied as Peter scrambled off of his chest and all but leapt into Tony’s outstretched arms. He smiled as Steve gave him a grateful look, which quickly turned into a wince when Peter’s foot collided with a very sensitive part of his body in his haste to climb from Tony to Steve. Bucky surged forward and stole Peter from Steve’s arms as soon as he’d received his hug, throwing him onto the empty side of the bed and tickling his sides mercilessly. “That’s the thanks I get?” he asked as Peter squealed with laughter and pushed helplessly at Bucky’s arms. “You wake me up in the middle of the night and that’s how you repay me?”

“Daddy!” Peter screamed through giggles, “Papa, help me! Help me!”

Tony sat back and tapped his finger against his chin as though debating whether or not to rescue his son before he pitched forward and joined the assault. Steve watched them happily before he sighed and pushed himself up from the bed to a chorus of whines.

“Steve, come on,” Tony called and reached out to grab at his husband’s hand, “we’re winning here! Pete’s about to give in!”

“I should do those sheets,” Steve whispered, “if we leave them any longer they’re gonna start to smell–”

“Okay,” Peter said quietly and slowly crawled off of Tony’s lap, cheeks turning pink in embarrassment and his expression falling into one of complete resignation that nearly broke Steve’s heart.  _ No child that age should ever know how to school their face into that expression,  _ Steve thought to himself. He bit his lip and his resolve crumpled in record time at the matching forlorn looks his son, husband, and best friend were all staring at him with.

“I guess that the sheets can wait a little,” Steve started thoughtfully, “just long enough for Daddy and me to beat you!” He pounced back onto the bed before he had even finished speaking, and Peter’s happy squeal would stay in all of their minds as one of the best sounds they’d ever heard. It wasn’t an easy path, but it was sure as hell worth it.

 

**Author's Note:**

> I post cute things on [tumblr](http://s-horne.tumblr.com/) sometimes


End file.
